A solid second half and a long goal-scoring blast in the closing minutes erased that belief. Daniel Ohnmeiss delivered the game-winning shot in the 77th minute as the No. 13-ranked Golden Falcons escaped archrival Eastern Wayne 2-1.

Aycock (13-2-1 overall) remained in the hunt for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference soccer championship. The Golden Falcons trail league-leading South Johnston by one game.

A loss to the Warriors could have been devastating.

"This is big because it gives us another crack at South Johnston," said Golden Falcons head coach Kevin Adkins. "We're not going to get ahead of ourselves. We have two other games to go. It keeps us in the hunt.

"We have three left games and this puts us in position to look forward to a playoff game down the line."

Aycock's Chase Thompson tied the game at 1-1 in the 47th minute with a shot from inside the 18-yard box that tucked into the corner of the goal past Warriors' keeper Joe DiCesare.

The Warriors had a goal waived off in the second half on an offsides call.

The rivals appeared to be headed for overtime before Ohnmeiss delivered the game-winner late in regulation.

"In the second half we came out and I thought we owned the field and kept pressing and pressing," said Adkins. "We didn't put three passes together in the first half. We started pushing the ball down the field and moved it really well in the second half. That first goal helped us quite a bit."

Eastern Wayne (6-9-1, 3-5 ECC) took the lead four minutes in when Nick Baker scored on a rebound off a corner kick. The Warriors controlled the possession throughout the first half, but were unable to extend their advantage.

"We tactically lost focus and allowed Aycock to create chances the way they like," said Eastern Wayne head coach Jorg Wagner. "On a wet pitch like this, eventually somebody is going to be out of position and anything on goal is going to be very difficult to control."

The Golden Falcons visit Triton on Monday. Eastern Wayne is the guest of Southern Wayne.